Jaguar Land Rover has denied speculation there are plans in place for an extended summer shutdown.

A spokesman for the company said the car-maker plans to close for its traditional two-week break this summer.

The company has been hit by falling global sales, along with the rest of the industry, and a report in the Sunday Times claimed executives were drawing up plans for an extended plant closure and staff layoffs to ease its current plight.

However, a JLR spokesman said while he could not rule out future cost-cutting measures, there were no such plans currently in place.

He also pointed out that night shifts were reintroduced at Land Rover’s Lode Lane plant, in Solihull, last month despite the turbulent economic conditions.

He said: “We always have a summer shutdown. The two-week shutdown begins at the end of this month and there are no plans to change that.

“There is a big process in building up to the shutdown anyway in terms of production planning and logistics, and we are set for the normal shutdown.

“We have always said there may be a need in the future to take further action but there are no plans at present.”

Fears of cutbacks at JLR were heightened last month when Indian owner Tata Motors revealed it made its first annual loss in seven years, slipping more than £300 million into the red, and warned it was looking into cost-cutting measures.

JLR, which unveiled the latest version of the Jaguar XJ last week, has so far avoided enormous shutdowns announced by rivals like Honda, which recently closed its plant at Swindon for three months.